BJ's Wholesale Club does everything big, and now its owners may be looking to purchase Hess Corp.'s more than 1,300 gasoline stations that are for sale, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The private-equity owners of the discount retail chain have expressed interest, as the oil company weighs whether to sell or spin off the stations, the Journal reported.

It has been a tumultuous year for the oil company with deep roots in New Jersey. Leon Hess founded it in 1933 as a fuel oil distributor, and the first Hess-branded gas station opened in 1960 in Oakhurst, Monmouth County.

A four-month proxy battle with Paul Singer's Elliott Management, a major investor, ended in May when Hess agreed to add three of five board members nominated by the activist shareholder.

Around the same time, Hess said it would exit the energy trading and marketing businesses and sell its gasoline stations in 16 eastern states on the east coast. Hess said it intends to transform to an exploration and production company.

Now, Hess says it is laying the groundwork for a potential spinoff of the stations, considered a more tax-friendly maneuver, the Journal reported.

The potential acquisition of Hess gas stations would make sense for CVC Capital Partners and Leonard Green & Partners, which paid about $2.8 billion in 2011 for BJ's. It has about 200 wholesale clubs in 15 eastern states, with more than half featuring gas stations.